"If you think of anyone talking about a trip, or their kids, whatever it is, the main way they do that is through their voice," says Fotobabble founder and CEO Kamal Shah. "It's a more natural way to tell stories for the majority of people, and when you listen to a story told with someone's voice, you get that level of personalization that you might not get out of the written word."

Fair enough. But what's most impressive about Fotobabble is that, unlike the majority of photo sharing apps, it has a concrete plan for monetization. While people have used the consumer-facing app to send photos to grandma, make baby announcements and narrate their travel photos, businesses have also found the technology useful for interactive marketing campaigns.

Dogster, a social network for dogs, ran one such campaign using the Fotobabble Facebook app to run a "bark translator" on its Page. Users can upload photos of their dogs with a voice clip of what the dog is "saying." MyWinesDirect.com encourages users to give wine reviews using Fotobabble. Baby photographers Our365 asked parents to upload photos of their babies with audio clips of their giggles for a "Tickle Me Baby" contest.

Publications are also using Fotobabble. iVillage asked its readers to upload photos with style questions and had style experts add a voice clip of advice.

Shah, who has been bootstrapping Fotobabble since March 2010, says there is funding in the pipeline (the details of which are still unannounced) that will allow him to build a set of premium tools for brands and publications. These will include a way to integrate Fotobabble with a mobile app and more easily moderate content. He'd also like to see the platform used for social media campaigns and product descriptions.

"Small businesses have an opportunity to describe their products and reach out to their customers with their own voice," he says.

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